The Early Show

The Early Show

Halle's Role Of A Lifetime

Right now, says Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry, is "a really good time in life."

The reasons are plain. She is expecting her first child with boyfriend Gabriel Aubry and is already receiving Oscar buzz for her performance in "Things We Lost in the Fire."

Berry is 41 and said she always wanted to be a mother. She decided that she had until 45 to make it happen, even though it becomes more difficult when a woman is over 35. It took a lot of effort to finally become pregnant.

"I had hoped that I wouldn't miss it," she told The Early Show anchor Hannah Storm. "And we were just so happy. I can't even describe the feeling of joy. You know because you have three children, so it's a feeling that is just -- it's better than any feeling I think I've ever had in my entire life, any emotion I've ever had."

The pregnancy is going well, she said. Like many women, she is experiencing many cravings and got sick during the first trimester.

"But now I'm into my second, so cravings have, you know, sort of tapered off, the sickness is gone," she said. "I just have all this energy. I want to just go, go, go and do my nursery and buy everything, although my mother says I need none of it."

Berry says she has gone into full nesting mode and is organizing everything. She bought cribs and changing tables for both her homes, as well as a stroller.

"Carseat was the first thing we got because we knew that was the most important thing," she said. "You can't even take babies from the hospital without a carseat."

Berry's latest project, "Things We Lost in the Fire," in many ways validates her maternal instincts because she has been receiving great reviews for the way she portrays a mother of two.

"And I was really wanting to be a mother so badly," she said, "and I'm sure that's why I gravitated towards this material, because I often and in the middle of making a movie and I say, this is why I chose this, because something in the movie allowed me to express something I've wanted to express in my real life."